Kitku groaned as she came to three hours later. Nobody was around and she noticed a mirror in the room she was in. She shakily stood up and a sharp pain in her legs made itself known. She gasped and fell back, this time slowly inching herself along the floor until she got to the mirror. She reached up and grabbed it, examining her face.

Like always, it wasn't marked in any way. He only beat her around the face when her parents were overseas and this monster had more time with her. Panic gripped her heart as she realized that he would have plenty of time tomorrow, before the NCIS agents came to pick her up at noon.

Footsteps stopping outside her door caused her to hurriedly place the mirror back in the wall. The last time he had caught her with it, he had been merciless.

The door opened and Darren strode in. He was a middle-aged, rather handsome man with a five-'o-clock shadow, cold, merciless brown eyes, and dark brown hair. He looked about twenty-five, though he was really thirty-three.

Kitku glanced at a clock. It was only six-thirty;plenty of time for him to beat her. He wasn't one to dilly-dally when there was work to be done.

"You know the drill!" he barked, snapping a rope tight. Kitku reluctantly held her feet out and he bound them, then shoved a filthy rag in her mouth to muffle the screams.

And scream she did. Thirty minutes into the abuse, bruises were already forming on her arms, legs, back, and torso. He would save her "pretty lil face" for later; he always did.

He finished after two solid hours of hitting her in any way possible, be it with fists, hands, feet, belts, or other objects. Her face was streaked with tears as she struggled uselessly. He didn't seem to mind, in fact, her seemed to like it, the twisted sicko.

He didn't just abuse her physically, though. Oh no, he abused her mentally and emotionally as well. He called her stupid, told her it was her fault her parents had been murdered. Once you hear something enough times, you start to believe it. It becomes ingrained in your mind and takes a lot of relearning to get the words and hurt out. Sometimes it never goes away.

He locked her in the room with one glass of water, some bread, and a chicken leg. She ate and drank quickly, then winced as she stood up. Her head was pounding, her body ached, and she could hardly stand. She walked three steps before sinking down, unconsciousness swooping in with a gentle touch.


"Get up, you lazy idiot! Get up this instant!"

The enraged cry was spoken around nine that same evening; she'd only had about half-an-hour's reprieve.

The same process followed, only this times he continued well into the morning. She drifted in and out of consciousness until finally he stopped around three in the morning. He threw her a single ragged blanket, drank from his fourth bottle of beer, and stormed out of the room to go pass out on the couch.

She cried herself to sleep, muffled by the blanket she pulled over her head.


"Alright, it's about time to go get the girl. DiNozzo, you drive." Agent Gibbs ordered, tossing his Senior Field Agent the keys.

"On it, Boss." Tony said, catching the keys single-handed.

Everyone grabbed their gear, holstered their weapons, and followed Gibbs to the elevator. Tony pulled out of the parking lot and drove quickly to the house the girl was in.


"Hurry up! They'll be here ant minute!" Darren yelled.

Kitku shoveled down the piece of toast he gave her and hurriedly put on the jacket that would serve to hide her arms. A pair of sweat bands hid the rope burns on her wrists, and pants with long boots hid her lags and ankles. A single Band-Aid covered the gash that formed when she had fallen and smashed her head against the edge of a door. At least, that was what he was forcing her to say had happened...


Tony pulled along the curb and the four agents got out. They walked up tot the door, then immediately drew their Sigs when they saw the window.

It had what looked to be blood smeared across it. The smears formed the words "The girl is next." The agents immediately kicked the door in and ran inside, weapons at the ready.

Darren yelled in surprise at the sudden entry. "Don't shoot!" he shouted, shoving the girl forward in front of him in order to save himself. Her makeup covered the black eyes and bruises well.

"Come on. You're leaving now." Gibbs said to Kitku. She only nodded, cringing when Darren touched her shoulder. He bent down under the guise of a hug.

"You tell anyone of our little games, and I will kill you. Understand?"

Kitku fearfully put her arms around his neck. "Of course I'll be good, Uncle Darren." she said, loud enough for the agents to hear.

She was quickly ushered out of the house by the man they called McGee and the car pulled away. The older man was driving.

Kitku had only known of one man who drove like this one and that was her daddy. They reached the building in mere minutes and Kitku was led to an office like floor.

"Welcome to NCIS." one of the men said. He had more hair than the one called McGee. "This is-"

"Tony, does she look read for introductions right now?" the older man said, jerking his head at Kitku.

"Sorry, boss."

Gibbs sat down at his desk and rifled through it. "McGee! You got anything for her to eat? She looks like she didn't eat last night."

"Yeah... Here." McGee said kindly, holding out a granola bar. Kitku looked at it and decided that she could maybe trust these people. Her daddy said she could, so she could. She took the granola bar and chewed on it slowly.

"What is your name?" the woman asked kindly. Her accent sounded foreign. Middle-Eastern, maybe?

"I'm not suppose to give my name to strangers, ma'am." Kitku said softly, remembering her manners.

"I'll tell you my name if you tel me yours."

"That sounds like a bribe to me."

The woman smiled. "My name is Ziva David." she said, offering her hand.

Kitku shook it. "Kitku Reynolds, ma'am."

"Ziva, please." the woman insisted.

"Ziva." Kitku smiled.

"Tony. Tony DiNozzo." the man who had escorted her into the building said.

"Timothy McGee."

"And Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs." the silver-haired man said. Kitku shook each of their hands. They seemed nice enough

Kitku glanced around, looking at the desks. She sat down in one of the chairs and looked at the agents.

Gibbs looked at her and took a deep breath. "We need a description of the man that killed your parents." he said.

Kitku nodded. "He was maybe 5'4", had a mole on his left cheek, hazel eyes, black hair, and a ring on his left pinkie." she said quietly, flashing back to that night.

"Tony."

"On it, Boss." Tony spun his chair around and typed something into the computer.

Kitku watched silently, exhaustion catching up with her. It was already three in the afternoon and she had no idea where she might be sleeping. She sighed and got up, wincing slightly in pain as she stretched.

"Can't find him, Boss. It's like he doesn't exist."

"You find him! A girl's parents are dead because of him! I want him found!" Gibbs said fiercely.

Kitku shrank back in the chair involuntarily. Darren had always yelled at her before hitting her...

She bolted for the elevator, her legs working of their own accord. She frantically slapped at a random button; anything to get away. Her breathing was harsh and fast, her heartbeat accelerated. The elevator finally dinged and she ran out. Someone was doubtlessly pursuing her by now.

Kitku heard rather loud music from the room across from her, so she hurried in. The occupant, a girl with black pigtails and a white lab coat, was sitting at a computer, her back turned. Kitku ran to the nearest place she could find that would hide her, which happened to be a rather large box in the corner. She jumped in just as the elevator dinged and Gibbs voice barked out an "Abby!"

"Yeah?" the Goth said perkily, running to turn the misc down. "Oh, hey Gibbs. I don't have any matches yet to the partial we pulled, but it's running through AFIS right now."

"Good work, Abbs. Did you happen to see a small girl run in here about two minutes ago?"

"No, why? Is it one of Tony's-"

"It's the dead Marine's daughter." Gibbs cut her off.

"Oh, well. That's pretty bad, Gibbs. I mean, thats like losing your boyfriend's prize-winning Doberman bad, the one that won first place three years in a row at Nationals bad."

"Abby, I'm not even going to wonder how you know that.: Gibbs said, shaking his head. "We need to find her. She ran in here and hasn't left yet, so she's hiding somewhere."

They started to search the lab, digging in boxes and bags. Gibbs spotted the one in the corner that Kitku was hiding in and started towards it.

"Kitku?" he called. The box exploded as he reached it and Kitku tried to make a break for it. Gibbs grabbed her arm before she could run any farther. "Calm down, Kitku. This is Abby, our forensic scientist."

"Hey!" Abby chirped. "Kitku, right?"

Kitku nodded, trying to calm her breathing. It's O.K. now... she told herself.

"Maybe you should take her to see Ducky." Abby said, noticing that the girl was shaking. "He can help her."

"No! I mean, uh... that's O.K. I was,um, looking for the bathroom?" Kitku said, making it more of a question that a statement.

Neither looked convinced. "Come on, Kit." Gibbs sighed.

"I'll take her, Gibbs. No offense, but I think you might be scaring her." Abby said, taking Kitku's hand. "Let's go see the Duckman!" she chirped to Kitku.

"I said I'm fine." Kitku insisted, trying to break fee again.

Abby raised an eyebrow. "Sure." she said with a slight roll of her eyes. She picked the girl up and walked to the elevator. Gibbs pushed the button for autopsy, pulling his cell phone out at the same time.

"Duck? We got a live one for you to see. Name's Kitku, eleven. Little girl who doesn't want to see the doctor."

Kitku had slid to the floor, her legs unable to support her any longer. The elevator stopped on the bottom floor and Gibbs picked the girl up. "We don't bite." he said, passing her off to Abby so he could make sure that Ducky had put away or covered any bodies.

"Ah, there's our guest!" the Scottish doctor said, taking Kitku from Abby and setting her on a table. "Mr. Palmer, would you please retrieve a treat for our young charge? A purple lollipop, if I'm not mistaken."

Kitku nodded. She already like this man.

"Kitku, this is Dr. Mallard, our ME." Abby said with a huge smile.

"Ducky, my dear. Ah, here you our!" Ducky said, handing Kitku a grape sucker. She twirled it between her fingers before unwrapping it and popping it in her mouth. "This is my assistant, Jimmy Palmer."

"Hi." Jimmy said, snapping on some clean gloves. Kitku raised a hand in greeting, still not trusting herself to speak.

"Now then. What seems to be the problem, my dear?" Ducky asked, looking closely at her eyes. They were bloodshot and frightened.

Kitku thought fast. "Nothing, Dr. Mallar- I mean Ducky." she said, smiling, though it didn't reach her eyes. Her eyes were sad, scared and... insecure. Small tremors ran through her body, crying false to her story.

"I see. What happened here?" Ducky asked, slowly peeling off the bandage that covered the cut on her forehead.

"I ran into something." Kitku said, wincing inwardly at the cliché.

"Uh-huh." Ducky said, unconvinced. "Why all the makeup, my dear?"

"I, uh, that is... We were going to go see a movie and then go eat lunch before I had to leave."

"We?"

"Me and Darren. He's a friend of my dad's..." Kitku said trailing off.

"You wore all this makeup just to go out with a friend of your dad's?" Gibbs asked, eyebrow raised. "He didn't seem like the kind who goes to movies." Just then, his cell phone rang. He picked it up. "Gibbs." He listened for a minute. "DiNozzo! Next time get off your lazy ass to come tell me that!" He sighed. "Alright, fine. I'm headed up from Autopsy, meet me down here. Maybe you can get to know the girl." He hung up and strode out of the room, talking over his shoulder. "Director wants to see me. DiNozzo's coming down, maybe the kid'll like him more. Or maybe not..." he said, smashing the button for the upstairs floor. The elevator dinged and carried him up. He walked straight into the Director's office.


"Does he always do that?" Kitku asked, bemused.

"Yep!" Abby said.

Ducky smiled. "Alright, my dear. Let's get you cleaned up."

"That's O.K." Kitku said, a little too quickly. "I can do it."

"Nonsense. It won't hurt a bit." Ducky said cheerfully. He grabbed a cotton swab and some antiseptic, and gently cleaned Kitku's cut. He applied another Band-Aid just as Tony walked in.

"Hey, guys. Boss said I should help with the kid."

"I have a name, you know." Kitku said, annoyed.

"Right. So, Kitku, what's with all the makeup?" Tony asked. "You're a little young to be going on a date." he said with a wink.

Kitku smiled. "Oh, really? How old were you when you had your first date?"

"Thirteen." Tony said with a grin. "Even back then, the ladies just could not resist the DiNozzo charm." He flashed her his brilliant smile.

Kitku rolled her eyes and laughed. "You know, I've been here for all of half-an-hour and already like it here." she said.

"It's all me." Tony laughed. "I'm irresistible."

"Oh, yeah, Tony. It's you alright." Abby said, subtly glancing at Kitku's laughing face. The girl had a melodic laugh, pure and sweet.

Tony smiled again and grabbed some paper towels. He wet them at the sink and gently started to clean the makeup off the girl's face. She grabbed his wrist, trying to stop him. She couldn't let him discover her secret. She couldn't...

"Relax. We won't hurt you." Tony said, gently releasing the girl's grip. Abby and Ducky both helped him clean Kitku's face. The bruises became clear the more makeup that was rubbed away. Abby gasped, Ducky tutted in disdain, and Tony looked livid. "Who did this?" he demanded.

Kitku shook her head, refusing to speak. Her sucker stick was gently pried from her mouth and thrown away.

"Kitku." Tony said, squatting down to her level. He gently removed the sweatbands from her wrists, revealing the burns from the coarse rope. "What happened?"

Kitku still would not speak.

"Kit, we can't help you if you won't tell us what's going on." Tony tried one more time.

Kitku still would not speak.

"Well, my dear, while you are still here, I hope you won't object to a physical examination?" Ducky asked, noticing the long boots and jacket. It was too hot to be covered up.

Kitku looked at him, fear evident in her eyes. "No. Don't." she whispered, shaking her head. "No one was suppose to know! I wasn't suppose to tell!"

"Tell what, me dear?" Ducky asked kindly, hoping to get more information.

Kitku absently rubbed the burns on her wrists, falling silent once more. Abby gently took off her boots, setting them aside. Kitku's long socks followed, then the legs of her pants followed.

Cuts, bruises and what looked to be cigarette burns covered the poor girl's legs.

"Abby, I trust that you will e able to perform an accurate evaluation?" Ducky asked.

"On it, Duckman." Abby said. The men all left the room and Abby looked at Kitku. "Would you take off your clothes, pretty please?" she asked, blinking her puppy-dog eyes at Kitku.

Kitku slowly removed her jacket, shirt and pants. She sat clothed in her undergarments on the cold table. Abby's eyes widened at the abuse the girl's body had been forced to undergo.

Lacerations covered her back and the backs of her lags, likely from a belt. Her arms were colorful hues of purples, blues, and yellows and her abdominal area looked like someone had used it as a dartboard. Upon closer examination, Abby could see that the small holes and slashes were methodically cut to inflict the most pain and bleed fully. Her eyes were both blackened, her pretty face was mottled with bruises. Her shoulders looked raw and painful, like the skin had just been stripped right off. Her ribs looked like they were bruised, though thankfully not broken.

"What kind of monster would, no, could do all this in just one say?" Abby asked, horrified.

Kitku shied away, worriedly throwing her clothes back on. She wrapped her arms around her knees, hugging them to her chest. Abby hurried into the hall to tell of what she had just witnessed. Tears streamed down Kitku's face.

Why had she let them see?